LATEST ADDITIONS

Most of us, most of the time, live in the world of good enough. On a Saturday, we might drive our Ford Fiesta to pick up a polo shirt at Banana Republic, then dine at Outback Steakhouse, and later get ready for bed with a mug of Celestial Seasonings Caramel Apple Dream tea while watching an episode of Hoarder House Flippers.

I was walking with my neighbor, guide, old friend, and fabled "blue saloon" limo driver Beau Ranheim when I heard a shout from afar. It was Todd Garfinkle of M•A Recordings. "Hey Herb! Are you ready to go to Japan?"

Berlin! Berlin! Berlin! Kabarett und Exil
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano; Salon Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, Adam Benzwi
BIS-2827 (SACD; reviewed in its native 24/96). 2026. Markus Mittermeyer, prod., eng.

One of audio's great legacy brands, Wharfedale got its start in 1932 when founder Gilbert Briggs built his first loudspeaker in the basement of his Ilkley, Yorkshire, home. The landscape in the valley of the River Wharfe lent the fledgling company its name, and Wharfedale Wireless Works was born.

The jazz world is accustomed to losing its greats too soon. Charlie Parker was gone at 34. John Coltrane at 40. Clifford Brown at 25. Rollins was, wonderfully, not one of them. He lived to 95.

Holst: The Planets, Bax: Tintagel, London Symphony Orchestra, Tenebrae/Sir Antonio Pappano; Brahms: The Three Violin Sonatas, Andrew Wan, Charles Richard-Hamelin; Jonas Kaufmann: Magische Töne, Jonas Kaufmann, Nikola Hillebrand, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra/Dirk Kaftan; Rachmaninoff: The Bells; Symphonic Dances, Kristina Mkhitaryan, Dmytro Popov, Alexander Vinogradov, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Choir/Karina Canellakis.

Richard Andersson: Monk & More; Mal Waldron: Starlight & Sunlight: At the Jazz Showcase; Ben Stapp: Uzmic Ro'Samg (Live Solo Tuba); Dave Adewumi: The Flame Beneath the Silence.